Fishing has been one of our oldest activities, originating as a need to gather food of a tasty and beneficial kind from a source of fish which might be easily available. Early man used in the beginning a crude bone or wood object, pointed at each end, attached to a line, and smeared with some form of attention-raising bait. A fish was expected to swallow this article and would be pulled out of the water.
Eventually, ancient man began to indulge in fishing also as a form of pleasure or recreation. Then fishing developed into the form of recreational fishing, generally referred to today as "sport fishing", enjoyed by the individual man, and large-scale fishing, or commercial fishing, practiced by a group, or business entity, organized to gather large numbers of fish for sale to the citizenry.
As man's interest in sport fishing arose, he became increasingly adept at designing new and improved fishing tools, soon to be known as "fishing tackle".
Consequently, as man's interest in fishing, or "angling", increased, he developed better fishing equipment, and as he developed better fishing equipment, his interest grew even more.
The invention of a fishing reel permitted the use of a longer line. Then fish hooks were made more efficient, and fishing rods were increasingly improved.
The ancient fisherman soon began using artificial lures on the fishing line as he found these could successfully attract fish. Throughout history the design and manufacture of artificial lures improved and became particularly specific as the habits of the various species of fish became better known. The fisherman attempted to use artificial lures which would appear most attractive to the fish he was seeking.
The fisherman knows generally the habits of his chosen fish: the fish's preferred food, whether it is a predatory fish, how it responds to temperature conditions, and the kind of water and the depth at which it may be found.
Despite excellent knowledge of the habits of the various fish species, the fisherman must know whether the weather conditions at that particular time would cause the fish to respond any differently than normal to the bait being used.
However, even with the knowledge of a particular fish's habits, I found it exceedingly beneficial to be able to alter the appearance and activity, or "enhance", the action of an artificial lure commensurate with the change I felt that fish's habits for that particular time might be.
In accordance with the usual procedure, I have conducted a patent search which revealed the following patents which were considered to be the closest to my invention:
______________________________________ U.S. Pat. No. 1,352,979 Lawrence Sept. 14, 1920 U.S. Pat. No. 2,589,715 Lysikowski March 18, 1952 U.S. Pat. No. 3,646,700 Pond March 7, 1972 U.S. Pat. No. 3,991,505 Simeti Nov. 16, 1976 U.S. Pat. No. 4,671,007 Stanczyk June 9, 1987 U.S. Pat. No. 4,920,687 Barnett May 1, 1990 ______________________________________
U.S. Pat. No. 1,352,979 to Lawrence describes a fish line spreader used for supporting a plurality of fish hooks from a single line. The spreader comprises a body portion from which a plurality of arms extended laterally. The body is formed of 2 parts, an upper portion and a lower portion, between which the long arms are held. In proper position, the inner ends of the arms are positioned in grooves of one body portion and the 2 body portions are held firmly together by a central screw. For storage, the 2 body portions are released and the arms are removed from their grooves then swung into parallel arrangement in the same plane for compact storage.
U.S. Pat. No. 2,589,715 to Lysikowski describes a fish line sinker comprising a heavy body member mounted upon a wire strand with a yoke at a first end of the wire strand engaging loosely an eye member of one arm of a wire yoke attached to a fish line. The wire strand which passes centrally through the body extends for a distance beyond the second end of the body, so that in use the extended wire strand passes over any obstruction on the bottom of the water bed.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,646,700 to Pond describes a take-apart fish hook or line support somewhat similar to the spreader of Lawrence. The lure support includes a weighted body member having wire arms connected thereto and extending in a plurality of lateral directions plus a vertically depending wire arm. The lure support is designed to be easily assembled and disassembled. The central body member comprises 3 parts, each part having an elongated arm secured to it, that is, the two laterally extending arms and the vertical arm. For easy storage the three body parts with their respective arms are taken apart, and may then be stored together in a parallel manner.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,991,505 to Simeti describes a fishing spreader connector comprising a flat, plastic, rectangular central member having a connecting eye for attachment of a spreader, and a line loop and a sinker loop for loose connection of a line and a sinker. The line loop and the sinker loop each has a flexible free end which may be held in secure position on the central body portion by catch elements which form latch means with the body portion after attachment of the line and sinker over their respective catch elements.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,671,007 to Stanczyk describes a V-shaped wire fishing lure connector and its method of manufacture. The fishing lure connector comprises a V-shaped wire structure being bent in the form of a figure eight at the point of the V to provide for attachment of a fishing line with one eye of the figure eight and attachment of a fishing swivel with the other eye of the figure eight. An eyelet is formed at each end of the V-shaped wire for attachment of lures.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,920,687 to Barnett describes a rotating fishing lure spreader for use while trolling. The spreader provides for the attachment of a plurality of hooks. The basic body member is a triangular planar member having means for attachment to a fishing line at a first of the triangular points, attachment of lures at the other two triangular points, and attachment of a lure at an eye at the central point of the trailing edge. Two vanes extend in opposite directions from the trailing edge to provide suitable rotation of the spreader during use.